Cannabis News

In a press release sent out this morning, a new coalition announced their launch to “end the prohibition, criminalization, and overregulation of cannabis in the United States.” The Cannabis Freedom Alliance (CFA) says their core values include federal descheduling, criminal justice reform, “reentry and successful second chances,” promoting entrepreneurship in free markets and reasonable tax rates.

Who’s Behind the CFA?

The organizations that founded the CFA are Americans for Prosperity (AFP), Mission Green/The Weldon Project, the Reason Foundation, and the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce (GACC). Take a look at that list and see if you recognize the names. AFP is a well-known conservative and libertarian political lobbying group founded and funded by the Koch brothers. The Reason Foundation, another Libertarian think-tank and an advocate for prison privatization, also listed the Koch brothers as some of their largest donors in disclosures filed in 2012.

The Koch family business, Koch industries, makes hundreds of billions of dollars a year in the oil and gas industry and has held massive political influence for decades. They regularly donate hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican campaigns. Historically, they’ve played a major role in opposing climate change legislation. They’re widely known as conservative advocates for lower corporate taxes, less social services and deregulation.

Interestingly enough, prominent criminal justice reform advocate Weldon Angelos and rapper Snoop Dogg appear to have joined forces with the Koch-backed group, CFA, following a Zoom meeting where Charles Koch told them he thinks all drugs should be legalized, according to Politico. “We can’t cut with one scissor blade. We need Republicans in order to pass [a legalization bill],” Angelos told Politico. The tie between cannabis legalization and traditional Republican and Libertarian values is obvious: their free market, personal liberties and small government ideology fits well within the legalization movement.

Big Oil, Alcohol and Tobacco, Oh My!

The Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation (CPEAR) is a group that was founded in March 2021. Two of the founding members are Altria, the company that makes Marlboro cigarettes, and Molson Coors, a multinational alcohol company. The CPEAR website says that they want to work on responsible federal reform. “We represent a vast group of stakeholders — from public safety to social equity — focused on establishing a responsible and equitable federal regulatory framework for cannabis in the United States.”

Founding members of CPEAR also include: The Brink’s, a private security firm, the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers and the Convenience Distribution Association. In other words, the group is made up of large and powerful corporate interest groups that represent the alcohol, tobacco, insurance and security industries.

Both NORML and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) have spoken out against CPEAR. Erik Altieri, executive director of NORML, says it’s a matter of corporate interests coming in and working to change laws for their companies to capitalize on legalization. “We’ve seen how big corporate money and influence have corrupted and corroded many other industries,” says Altieri. “We can’t let the legal marijuana industry become their next payday.”

The DPA also released a statement opposing CPEAR. Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the DPA, says that she urges caution to elected officials in taking counsel from these corporate powers. “We have long been concerned about the entry of large commercial interests into the legal marijuana market,” says Frederique. “Big Alcohol and Tobacco have an abysmal track record of using predatory tactics to sell their products and build their brands – often targeting low-income communities of color and fighting public health regulations that would protect people.”

While their motives and desired outcomes remain unclear, it is apparent that we’re reaching a new age in the cannabis legalization movement, one where powerful corporations outside of the cannabis space want in. Whether its oil and gas, insurance, security, tobacco or alcohol, these groups are using their power and money to influence cannabis policy reform.

ORLANDO, FL – (April 5, 2021) – GIE Media Inc., the publisher of Hemp Grower magazine, announced today the launch of Hemp Grower Conference, which will take place Nov. 8-10, 2021 at Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The event will feature three days of education and expo, bring together hemp growers, industry experts, solutions providers, and more.

“The inaugural Hemp Grower Conference will be an opportunity for hemp industry stakeholders to come together to learn valuable market insights and discover grower-specific innovations and technology solutions that will bolster their businesses,” said Group Publisher Jim Gilbride. “GIE Media and the team behind the event have a deep history of creating successful events that bringing together industry constituents to help advance agricultural markets and the businesses in them.”

“Hemp growers—whether they’re growing hemp for grain, fiber or CBD—face many hurdles in this young industry. But they also have great opportunities,” said Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski. “The Hemp Grower Conference will bring together industry pioneers, successful businesses, leading researchers and regulators to help all hemp growers navigate the cultivation, business and regulatory challenges they face, as well as understand the coming market trends and opportunities that can help shape the future of their businesses. Attendees will come away motivated with new tools in their toolbox that will help them find success.”

The Hemp Grower Conference education program will be created by the editors of Hemp Grower magazine and a conference advisory board of professional hemp growers and other industry leaders.

Members of the Hemp Grower Conference 2021 Advisory Board include:

• Jeff Kostuik, Director of Operations for Hemp Production Services and Hemp Genetics International
• Rachel Berry, Farmer and CEO of the Illinois Hemp Growers Association
• Bear Reels, Senior Director of R&D Cultivation for Charlotte’s Web
• Alyssa Ann Collins, Director of Penn State University Southeast Agricultural Research & Extension Center
• Luke Zigovits, Owner and Farm manager for Higher Level Organics
• Louis Vega, Founder and CEO of ¡WEPA! Farms
• Marty Mahan, Farmer and President of the Heartland Hemp Co-Op
• Maureen West, Chief Compliance Officer for Functional Remedies LLC

In addition, an expo hall will feature leading technologies and solutions providers dedicated to helping hemp growers succeed.

For more information and to sign up for email updates, visit www.HempGrowerConference.com. More details—including speakers, sessions and other conference events—will be announced in the coming months.

 

About Hemp Grower

Launched in November 2019, Hemp Grower’s mission is to support licensed hemp cultivators in the newly legal U.S. hemp industry and emerging and expanding hemp markets in North America by providing actionable intelligence in all aspects of the business—from regulatory news to analysis of industry trends and business strategy, as well as expert advice on cultivation, extraction, marketing, financial topics, and legal issues. In addition to its monthly print magazine, readers can access Hemp Grower’s content at HempGrower.com, via weekly newsletters, and on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram). It is owned by GIE Media Inc.

 

About GIE Media Inc.

GIE Media was founded in 1980 and has grown over 36 years into a leading marketing and communications business-to-business media company serving 17 industries — including the horticulture industry through its Horticulture Group (Greenhouse Management, Produce Grower, Nursery Management, Garden Center, Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower). The company employs nearly 100 editors, publishers, sales representatives, marketers and other professionals. For more information, visit www.GIEMedia.com.

ORLANDO, FL – (April 5, 2021) – GIE Media Inc., the publisher of Hemp Grower magazine, announced today the launch of Hemp Grower Conference, which will take place Nov. 8-10, 2021 at Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Fla. The event will feature three days of education and expo, bring together hemp growers, industry experts, solutions providers, and more.

“The inaugural Hemp Grower Conference will be an opportunity for hemp industry stakeholders to come together to learn valuable market insights and discover grower-specific innovations and technology solutions that will bolster their businesses,” said Group Publisher Jim Gilbride. “GIE Media and the team behind the event have a deep history of creating successful events that bringing together industry constituents to help advance agricultural markets and the businesses in them.”

“Hemp growers—whether they’re growing hemp for grain, fiber or CBD—face many hurdles in this young industry. But they also have great opportunities,” said Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski. “The Hemp Grower Conference will bring together industry pioneers, successful businesses, leading researchers and regulators to help all hemp growers navigate the cultivation, business and regulatory challenges they face, as well as understand the coming market trends and opportunities that can help shape the future of their businesses. Attendees will come away motivated with new tools in their toolbox that will help them find success.”

The Hemp Grower Conference education program will be created by the editors of Hemp Grower magazine and a conference advisory board of professional hemp growers and other industry leaders.

Members of the Hemp Grower Conference 2021 Advisory Board include:

• Jeff Kostuik, Director of Operations for Hemp Production Services and Hemp Genetics International
• Rachel Berry, Farmer and CEO of the Illinois Hemp Growers Association
• Bear Reels, Senior Director of R&D Cultivation for Charlotte’s Web
• Alyssa Ann Collins, Director of Penn State University Southeast Agricultural Research & Extension Center
• Luke Zigovits, Owner and Farm manager for Higher Level Organics
• Louis Vega, Founder and CEO of ¡WEPA! Farms
• Marty Mahan, Farmer and President of the Heartland Hemp Co-Op
• Maureen West, Chief Compliance Officer for Functional Remedies LLC

In addition, an expo hall will feature leading technologies and solutions providers dedicated to helping hemp growers succeed.

For more information and to sign up for email updates, visit www.HempGrowerConference.com. More details—including speakers, sessions and other conference events—will be announced in the coming months.

 

About Hemp Grower

Launched in November 2019, Hemp Grower’s mission is to support licensed hemp cultivators in the newly legal U.S. hemp industry and emerging and expanding hemp markets in North America by providing actionable intelligence in all aspects of the business—from regulatory news to analysis of industry trends and business strategy, as well as expert advice on cultivation, extraction, marketing, financial topics, and legal issues. In addition to its monthly print magazine, readers can access Hemp Grower’s content at HempGrower.com, via weekly newsletters, and on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram). It is owned by GIE Media Inc.

 

About GIE Media Inc.

GIE Media was founded in 1980 and has grown over 36 years into a leading marketing and communications business-to-business media company serving 17 industries — including the horticulture industry through its Horticulture Group (Greenhouse Management, Produce Grower, Nursery Management, Garden Center, Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary and Hemp Grower). The company employs nearly 100 editors, publishers, sales representatives, marketers and other professionals. For more information, visit www.GIEMedia.com.

Galloway, N.J., April 1, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – A new Cannabis and Hemp Research Institute at Stockton University (CHRIS) will provide education, research and resources for the local and national market.

The new institute builds on the Cannabis Studies academic programs at Stockton to develop research focusing on hemp cultivation practices, non-medical cannabis research, lab testing and the creation of hemp and cannabis educational materials.

“As the first university in New Jersey to offer a Cannabis Studies minor in 2019, Stockton is poised to do important research into areas that can provide opportunities for our students and emerging industries, and enhance the economy of the state,” said Professor of Biology Ekaterina Sedia, coordinator of the Cannabis Studies minor.

Robert Mejia, an adjunct professor of Cannabis Studies at Stockton, said the institute will host educational and career fairs and help set the standard for hemp and cannabis education in New Jersey and the nation.

Initially, the CHRIS testing lab’s focal point will be to provide testing services to hemp growers, processors and finished product manufacturers. Although New Jersey was the third state to institute guidelines for hemp cultivation, the state’s hemp industry is barely in the beginning stages.

Opportunities to create a whole host of environmentally friendly hemp consumer products, including building materials, food, and ethanol and plastic replacements will lead to a more sustainable future, Mejia said.

“Hemp was an important part of America’s past and we’d like to make it an important part of America’s future,” Mejia said. “We used to know how to grow and process hemp, but because of cannabis prohibition, we have to learn all over again. As we learn, we will be sharing these valuable lessons with our community and the nation.”    

In addition to hemp testing, CHRIS plans to grow hemp in Stockton fields and greenhouse and host educational events.

Another goal is working with community partners to provide education, training and employment opportunities for the post-prison population.

“We see this as a way to engage with our local community and to help those harmed by the war on drugs,” Mejia said.

The new institute’s first event will be a virtual Cannabis Curriculum Convening on April 21 and 22, which will bring together cannabis educators across the nation to exchange ideas, network and discuss strategies to enhance cannabis education in higher education.

“There is so much public confusion about cannabis and hemp and the topic affects so many different areas,” Sedia said.  “Through our research and education, we want to be a leader both in academia, and in assisting businesses and local communities as the industry grows.”

Themes for the convening include cannabis curricula in science, cultivation, law, medicine and social justice.

More information about the institute and the curriculum convening are at stockton.edu/chris.

The SAFE Banking Act is back in Congress, and political momentum is swinging in favor of the cannabis industry’s need to normalize its relations with financial institutions.

Safe Harbor Services’ credit union banked $3 billion in cannabis funds last year, part of a vast but fairly under-the-radar ecosystem where businesses are building rapport with smaller independent financial institutions like regional credit unions. There’s a lot to know to make sure that it’s a productive relationship, and federal reform is only one piece of the puzzle. Much of the work falls to the cannabis business, of course.

Here, we spoke with Safe Harbor Services Vice President Amanda McComb about some of the recent trends and changes that she’s seen in banking the cannabis industry.

Eric Sandy: Could provide a bit of a biographical sketch of Safe Harbor, as of early 2021, and the scope of how the business is interacting with cannabis businesses?

Amanda McComb: We started our cannabis banking program in 2015 and have since gone through 15 state and federal exams. So, it’s been a long haul, most specifically just for the cannabis program to make sure that we were staying in compliance and doing it in a safe and sound way. We also started a national [cannabis] program back in 2017. A lot of our clients that we bank here in Colorado were going out of state, and we wanted to follow them out of state because it’s really important for us to see all of their business—to be able to stand in front of the money and say that they’re legitimate businesses and that they’re operating within compliance, within their regulations. So, we started following them out of state and realized really quickly that we couldn’t be the only financial institution to bank the nation as a whole. We started working with other financial institutions to give them a compliance program that had obviously gone through multiple exams and had feedback from our regulators that we’d really tried to fine-tune.

So, we have about seven or eight different financial institutions that we work with throughout the nation. Here in 2021 we’re actually consolidating all of our cannabis-related initiatives into a new company called Safe Harbor financial. It’s combining those relationships with financial institutions and our relationships with cannabis clients and putting it all together in one company and then expanding the services that we offer to the industry. We’re working on lending and other initiatives to support the industry and bring them more normalized banking, because, as I’m sure you know, they just haven’t had a lot of normalized banking or lending or investments. The CEO of [Safe Harbor’s] credit union is essentially stepping down from the credit union and running this new company, focusing all of her efforts on all things cannabis-related and then moving into other ventures like virtual currencies and things that might be of use to the cannabis space at some point.

ES: What are some of the common misconceptions that Safe Harbor has run into? Are there certain banking-related questions that cannabis businesses are bringing to you that they haven’t fully grasped yet?

AM: As the cannabis industry gets more normalized and more states pass regulations surrounding cannabis, there’s the misconception that it could just be a regular bank account or a regular business account. Unfortunately, like we saw with the 15 state and federal exams, it just can’t be a normal business account at this point. Even if the SAFE Banking Act were to pass, it’s still so close to that black market history. There is still a pull because it’s so expensive to be in the cannabis space—especially places like California where they had cannabis before they really had regulations.

Trying walk that back and put regulations on these companies that have been selling for some time is expensive and labor-intensive for the companies. When they go to get a bank account, we’re very intrusive and we always consider ourselves the nosiest bankers around because we have had to ensure that they are legitimate businesses. There’s just so much compliance that has to happen on our end in order to protect the financial system as a whole, that it is more expensive. We can’t offer the variety of products that we could offer, quote unquote, normal businesses or normalized businesses.

ES: On the due diligence side of the conversation, what are some ways that these cannabis businesses might help prepare to work with a financial institution?

AM: We collect a lot of the same data that they would provide to get their license with their state. If they’re very organized and keep all of that together, it’s a good place for us to start. Having sophisticated or at least up-to-par bookkeeping and accounting [helps], so that we can look through their financials—specifically if they haven’t been banked. That’s one of the hardest parts: trying to prove that the funds that they’ve earned when they were unbanked are legitimately earned in their state. Having solid records so that we have something to rely upon when our regulators come in and ask, “How do we know that these are legitimate funds?” is important.

ES: Going back to those 15 state and federal exams, could you elaborate on what that looks like? And do those exams differ from state to state in any substantial way?

AM: Typically, a financial institution will be on a 12-month to 18-month exam schedule, and when we started our program, it was a lot of education for us and the regulators. It was a lot of discussion of what cannabis banking looks like. Not a lot of our regulators had experience in financial institutions that banked cannabis. The exams were very collaborative in us trying to figure out the safest way to bank this and to not make it impossible for the cannabis industry to bank—but also to ensure safety and soundness for our institution and for the financial system as a whole. It was a lot of back and forth, collaborative efforts that actually prompted us to develop our own compliance software in-house that we, from all of the feedback that we were getting from regulators, were able to streamline and male as easy as possible.

ES: One of the questions we’ve gotten pretty frequently over the years is from cannabis business owners trying to find credit unions who are willing to work with them in the cannabis space at all. So, how can credit unions signal to the cannabis industry that they’re open to this business, and how do these relationships start?

AM: At this point, what I’ve seen is it’s a lot of word of mouth. A lot of financial institutions are hesitant to come out publicly and say that they are banking cannabis because it does bring additional scrutiny. It can also be a reputation risk with our peers and with vendors that we work with. In my world, cannabis is more normalized just because I’ve had a front seat to it, but in talking to other financial institutions, they tend to be a lot more conservative with their risk. A lot of times it’s word of mouth between clients, which can be difficult because a lot of them are under NDAs with financial institutions. Some of it is just seeing the checks, if you’re getting checks from [financial] institutions. That’s not always super reliable, because the institution might not know that they’re banking cannabis necessarily.

There are some things to keep in mind, though, as the cannabis industry is looking for bank accounts and really investigating the financial stability of the institutions. Most of that is publicly available information. A lot of institutions, especially smaller institutions, think that cannabis will be the solution to their financial problems or the recessionary possibility. Sometimes, those are the ones that go out of business quickly because they just don’t have the capacity to handle all the compliance that’s necessary. So, it’s on the cannabis industry to do a little research on the financial institutions that they start to work with.

ES: Given that, what were some of the prime movers for Safe Harbor, years ago, to be willing to step into this space?

AM: The biggest one was community safety. When we started talking to the industry, a lot of Colorado was unbanked. We were hearing stories about these entrepreneurs who hadn’t been in a cash-intensive space. Working in a financial institution, we understand the risks of cash. We go through robbery trainings. A lot of my coworkers have been through robberies. So, we understand that level of risk. And when you’re talking to the industry and they’re going to ATMs late at night, shoving cash in ATMs and doing payroll in cash, the risk that we saw was very intimidating. We wanted to help in the sense of providing a place to put their cash—and they wouldn’t have to manage it. The other thing is, credit unions were really founded to bank the underbanked and serve the underserved. There didn’t really seem to be a more modern version of that than the cannabis industry, especially as they were being shut out of financial institutions and having to operate in cash. Those two are large driving forces for why we got into the industry.

ES: From your perspective, what sort of trends are you watching out of Washington—or what sort of aspects of federal reform, maybe in the SAFE Banking Act, are you looking for that would be legitimately helpful for the industry?

AM: The SAFE Banking Act will be helpful to institutions that are still willing to take on something that would be high-risk. FinCEN [The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] is our ultimate regulator. I’m hoping that if something federally passes like the SAFE Banking Act, then FinCEN can respond and give us more detailed guidance on what they’re specifically looking for in cannabis banking. They do have a guidance for us. It’s from 2014, so it’s a little outdated, especially with how fast the industry is moving at this point. It allows for institutions to come in and bank [the industry] without being prosecuted, just because it’s cannabis. Right now, with anti-money-laundering rules and BSA, what we’re doing could be determined as money laundering since it’s federally illicit funds.

So, a lot of working with our regulators was really being able to stand in front of that money and say, “No, this was legitimately earned in my state, and we are doing the best effort or a good faith effort to ensure compliance and ensure that it’s all legitimate.” That side probably won’t go away. While it does open the door for institutions to get in, they still are going to have to have the compliance resources to still stand up and say, “This isn’t from the black market. It is legitimate money,” even if the SAFE Banking Act passes.

It’s an interesting discussion to have with financial institutions, because most of us are federally insured and it is a complicated conversation to have. It’s not just the cannabis space where we’re looking for money laundering and things like that, but it does have those close ties to the black market. We’re just a few years outside of it, you know?

ES: California and Colorado have come up, but, just in terms of geographic scope, are there any major differences in how banking regulations are playing out in newer cannabis markets, like an Ohio or a Florida?

AM: With a lot of the newer states coming up, it’s an interesting change in banking because a lot of our initial due diligence changes. We aren’t trying to show legitimacy to their funds, because a lot of times it’s just investment funds or owner contributions to get these licenses off the ground. With the newer markets, the initial due diligence is typically a bit easier because they’re going through the licensing process, so they have all the documents handy. There isn’t a lot for us to go in and validate. A lot of the states have learned from some of the mistakes that California and Colorado and Oregon and Washington and all of us made initially getting into it.

A lot of the newer states are a little bit easier. It’s funny, though, because a lot of [the new cannabis businesses] are the ones that think that it should be normalized banking because they just haven’t had that history of not having banking. What’s also interesting is new states like Florida and Michigan and others, they have very sophisticated backing. There’s Fortune 500 and there’s a lot of this sophistication in their management and control. It’s different from some of the mom-and-pop shops that we saw initially, and it’s very fascinating to see where the industry is going as far as being publicly traded in Canada and all of the international aspects that are coming into the cannabis industry.